WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A 29-year-old Bronx man and former employee of the New York State Power Authority was arraigned in Westchester County Court in White Plains on Wednesday after he allegedly stole nearly $3,000 in gas using state gas cards over the course of more than a year.

Raymond Encarnacion allegedly signed out NYPA issued gas cards that were designated for use only in power authority vehicles to which the cards were assigned. He then used the various gas cards for his own personal use, without the knowledge or consent of NYPA and allegedly used them to buy $2,918.41 worth of gas from public funds.

An internal audit by the Power Authority pointed to discrepancies in the use of the various gas cards.

The New York State Office of Inspector General was contacted and commenced an investigation in conjunction with the District Attorneys office. The defendant surrendered Tuesday.

Encarnacion was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. He faces a maximum of four years in prison. Bail was set at $2,000.

Comments (3)

While I'm not condoning his alleged actions, the penalty of 4 years in prison is unjustifiable. Wall Street Bankers have stolen trillions from the public and crashed the economy, causing millions to lose jobs and homes, yet they're minimally penalized and never imprisoned.

Companies need to create a culture of building relationships, paying & taking care of their employees. They are the ones that can build your business or tear it down! They should have explored his reasons for taking the gas, docked his pay & put him on probation. Why ruin his life over gas cards? Sometimes good people make dumb decisions, especially when times are hard.